This is how the federal judges redrew Bexar County's congressional lines.

Testimony in a trial before a three-judge panel to determine if redistricting maps drawn by the Texas Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act and discriminates against minorities wrapped up today.

The final witness, a redistricting expert, told the court that a congressional map drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature removed 479,000 Latinos from districts that elect minority preferred candidates.

Dr. Lisa Handley, a redistricting consultant, said her analysis for the U.S. Justice Department also found that Republicans changed a sweeping congressional district west of San Antonio to one would unlikely give minority voters a chance to elect candidates of their choice.

That district is currently represented by Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, a San Antonio Republican.
Evidence presented by experts show that Latinos vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates.

Lawyers for the Justice Department, the state of Texas and minority rights groups will present closing arguments on Tuesday.

“We’ll see you next week,” Judge Rosemary Collyer told the lawyers as the testimony phase of the two-week trial ended. The three-judge panel expedited proceedings because a schedule for Texas primary elections remains in doubt.

The focus of Texas redistricting now shifts to another federal court in San Antonio.

That court is trying to craft an interim plan in anticipation that the District of Columbia district court here finds the Texas maps violate the Voting Rights Act.

Texas is one of nine mostly southern states that must have prior Justice Department approval of changes to political maps and procedures because of past discriminatory practices.

The District of Columbia judges last month ruled against Texas when it sought to bypass Justice Department prior approval, or “pre-clearance.”

And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week the Texas maps could not be implemented without pre-clearance.

But the Supreme Court also ordered the San Antonio court drawing interim maps to defer to the Legislature’s original maps except in areas where there is a likelihood that the lines may be found to discriminate.

Collyer ordered the two-week trial cut short after the Supreme Court ruling that the interim maps by the San Antonio court could not be used as a substitute for the state maps for state House, Senate and Congress.

Lawyers in the redistricting case will appear before the San Antonio court on Friday (today) to hash out a timetable for primary elections, and whether the state should hold split primaries in light of the ongoing legal challenges.